SG-

I have to agree this meal really seems to set a new standard for SK in terms of complexity and ingredients. Awesome, this will be #1 on my list of places to eat next time I'm back in Philly. Great quality Pics too! Are you bringing light tents to your meal now????

I've been drinking coffee recently from Peets and Starbucks and find that the coffee they serve seems to be brewed super strong. Is it me or does anyone else find this to be the case? Is this a conspiracy by the coffee chains to get their customer addicted?

I drove around the area recently and must recommend stopping at either Tomales Bay Oysters or Hog Island good fun, cheap, rustic and definitely something different.

Another option is the Drafting Room in springhouse, personally I prefer Iron Hill myself but the Drafting room has a much larger selection of brews. Otherwise the WG area is quite the culinary wasteland the many years I worked there.

Yes I would also second the recommendation for Alison's around the area.

It's medicinal but in a good way, I hated it as a child but have come to love it over the years. You could consider it to be an acquired taste. I tried it once though at Penang in NYC just for kicks, terrible rendition does no justice to the original.

I love a version where the rice is seasoned with lard and fried shallot sooo fragrant and decadent. Some will argue that the fried onions overwhelms the soup, delicious none the less.

gahhhhh drooooool, I love buka puasa food, best time to savor the many varieties of Malay in one location!! Ayam perchik, nasi dagang, east coast keropok (I can't remember the name), air ros with biji selasih, yum! Payuh = quail? Malay food is what I miss most from home! You just can't find it here in the US. All the M'sian restaurants are chinese hawker food, Malay food is hardly ever represented.

Prepared mixes have come a long way in the past decade. My parents had sent me an excellent version which came with own pack of kerisik!!! Can't remember the name though. Another item I have been on is Penang Prawn mee mix, gets very very close to the real thing.

One of my last meals in Philly before I moved to SF recently was at Carmine's! Enjoyed it very much, I'm dissapointed I did not go sooner.

If I'm not mistaken its a type of parrot fish, looks like this.. it's been too many years...

Hello, I recently relocated from Philadelphia and am particularly interested in getting opinions about what are considered benchmarks for the following cuisines (price is not a consideration). I included general opinions about places I've tried myself or from referrals: 1) Sushi - tried Kyo-ya last week and thought it was good but not spectacular. 2) Thai - better quality that Philly in general but still far from truly good Thai. Restaurants seems to always add either bamboo shoots or red bell peppers... 3) Dim Sum - Tried HKFL and Seafood Harbor a week apart I prefer the latter. 4) Kaiseki - Kyo-ya, Kyagetsu or others? 5) Chinese Seafood - Where's a good place to try those huge aussie lobsters, santa barbara shrimp, anything I should look out for? 6) Pho - haven't tried any yet 7) Ritz or French Laundry first? That's all for now, I am really looking forward to the feedback and thanks in advance.

Tried O several weeks ago while I was picking up some tacos for breakfast which incidentally were terrible compared to the ones I got the last time. Back to O, did not enjoy it personally, could not put my finger on it but somehow the ingredients and bread just did not seem at harmony. My vote still goes to Saigon Cafe out on Adams ave in the NE.

You are correct authentic beef rendang is supposed to be dry, and liquid should be completely reduced.

I concur, went there a couple times earlier this year and basically everything I had was bad. I've since stopped going. The branch in Edison, NJ churns out more consistent results from my experience.

Finally an episode about Malaysia, you completely snubbed M'sia in the Cook Tour!!!! How could you favor Singapore over Malaysia??????? Redemption finally!!!! Looking forward to it, the previews look like adventures in East Malaysia.

Just get it! You know you want it and are just using us as scapegoats to justify your purchase!!! Don't forget a big ass hoodie to go with that range. No point in getting a 70k+BTU range with no proper fan to suck out all the smoke and heat, esp. in those rowhomes.

Yeah it tasted good but personally too much effort. Furthermore I was a little scarred as a result of my poor execution of the eel (ended up being somewhat inhumane ) My advice if you're planning to do this, make sure you have lots of counter space, good material to grip the eel, RAZOR sharp knife and sever the spine ASAP! Takes quite a bit before they're completely dead, also they make a grunting noise as you're killing them which will stay with you for a while.

What did you use in your mop? ← A few garlic cloves bashed up, few sprigs of thyme, some cognac, sliced onions, and diluted Stubbs BBQ sauce.

Me and my baby back ribs (and some curried chicken thighs and corn) at this point smoked for about 4hrs in a "Chargriller Smokin Pro with sidebox" getting another mopping.

Ok, I think sadly this will be my third and final visit to Fuji. For some reason he must not like me... Here's what we had for the kaiseki dinner. 1) Tuna tartare topped with caviar, no comparison to the toro tartare at Morimoto, then again they charge I think $20 for it alone. 2) walu ceviche topped with smoked salt, salad and orange segments 3) kumamoto oysters with ponzu sauce, by the time it got to us, all the liquor had spilled out the shell, tasted ok otherwise. 4) scallop topped with foie gras, mango and a balsamic vinegar reduction 5) sashimi of tuna, walu, salmon and flounder, small cylinder of rice that came with it was beginning to turn crusty from sitting out too long (did not come with fresh wasabi) 6) fried soft shell crab with some sort of grain batter. I absolutely did not enjoy this dish. 7) Pan seared 'Japanese' beef with fiddlehead ferns. 8) red bean & ginger ice cream (with some large ice chips) and some not so great cheesecake. First 5 dishes were OK nothing spectacular, last 3 were downright dissapointing. Total cost $75 / person.

Ok finally got my hands on some nagaimo this weekend and this is what I made as an appetizer for dinner: Grated nagaimo topped with a generous heaping of uni and very thin strips of nori and bonito flakes drizzled with a sauce made of lightly diluted shoyu (the kind with konbu used for sashimi) mixed with wasabi. Simple preparation and quite tasty indeed. Think I'm going to serve this next time I have people over for dinner.

I've always had difficulty cooking the rice evenly, there's always a section around the rim of the pan especially that is that's not properly cooked through. I suspect that I may have too much rice in the pan. I've got the flavors down right but this problem is always driving me nuts!!! Anyone else ever have this problem?

Yes those are blue crab shells but with nothing in them other than brains and some roe, had some back up items grilled shrimp and crabs in case there wasn't enough eel to go around.

Made the sauce myself too, soaked some konbu and then boiled the liquid with some mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar, dashi, slice of ginger and the eel carcass. I grilled the liver lightly but tossed out the guts, wasn't sure what to do with it. I didn't have a recipe for anything and kinda of just went along piecing together past TV memories.